/ 22 September 2004

Heavy downpours kill 36 in India

Torrential rain killed at least 36 people and washed away houses and farms in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, officials said on Wednesday.

Thirty-five of the people, including a number of women and children, died when flash floods submerged homes on Tuesday in Sitapur district near the border with Nepal, local magistrate Amod Kumar said by telephone.

”Most of the casualties took place last night when people were sleeping and were caught unawares when their houses collapsed,” Kumar said, adding Sitapur had seen heavy rain since Monday.

Police in the state capital, Lucknow, said heavy rain killed at least one person in the city on Tuesday.

Rain also lashed the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday but there were no immediate reports of serious damage or casualties, officials said.

They said the downpour disrupted traffic in the state capital, Shimla, and other towns and that the mountains saw unseasonal snowfall. — Sapa-AFP